Though he received two Oscar nominations for leading roles in Pygmalion (1938) and Berkeley Square (1933), he is best remembered for his supporting performance as Ashley Wilkes in Gone With the Wind (1939). Howard's career was framed by the two World Wars: he had begun acting to overcome the effects of shell-shock from his service during World War I, and he ended his career writing and directing films on behalf of the English war effort. He was killed when the passenger plane in which he was traveling was shot down by German fighters.